IAG hopeful as it pursues Ryanair

WILLIE Walsh, the boss of British Airways’ owner IAG, said he is ‘hopeful’ Ryanair will sell its stake in rival Irish airline Aer Lingus, paving the way for a £995m takeover.

IAG’s plan to snap up Aer Lingus took step forward this week when the Irish government agreed to sell its 25.1pc stake in the firm.

IAG got the go-ahead by promising jobs and commitments such as keeping it headquartered in Ireland and maintaining services between London and Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary now holds the key to Walsh’s plan. Ryanair owns nearly 30pc of Aer Lingus after various failed takeover attempts in the past decade.

Ryanair is appealing against a UK Competition and Markets Authority decision to cut its stake to 5pc. But Walsh said he is not relying on Ryanair being forced to sell.

Walsh, who started his career at Aer Lingus, joining as a pilot and working his way up to chief executive before leaving to join BA, added: ‘We’re hopeful that Ryanair will see this as an attractive offer for their stake in Aer Lingus. We expect the Ryanair board to consider this offer on its merits, which is what they’ve said publicly.’

IAG, which also owns Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling Airlines, first made an approach to buy the budget Irish carrier in January. Its €2.55 a share offer is above the current Aer Lingus share price which rose 2.6pc to €2.44 (173p) yesterday.

IAG climbed by 3.2pc, or 17.5p, to 562p. Ryanair’s shares increased by 2.3pc to $11.75 (835p).